Little girl killed by swing made by dad

Palestinian parents say they still see their girl every day

Tragedy struck with full force at a small Palestinian family in Gaza Strip when their five-year-old daughter who had been born by test tube following five years of waiting was killed by a swing made by her own father as a gift.

Qamar, an Arabic for moon, had her neck caught in the rope while she was playing in the primitive swing made by her poor father Raed Al Qassas from a piece of the rope used to hang the family’s wash at their tiny house in the Strip.

On that very day, Qamar was jumping with delight when her parents said her grandmother was coming to see her.

She was so impatient to see her grandmother that she kept leaping inside the house before heading for her swing to kill time.

“She died while she is still a crescent before becoming a full moon,” Qassas said, quoted by the Palestinian Arabic language daily Al-Quds.

“We still see Qamar every day…she is always before our eyes…we cannot forget her and we cannot stop seeing her although we are convinced that death is right.”

Qassas and his wife Sana live in a small shabby house in impoverished Gaza, which has the world’s largest population density. Both work at a bakery and earn hardly enough to support themselves and five other brothers and sisters crammed in that house.

The couple had waited for nearly five years before resort to test tube technology to have Qamar.

Her father believes Qamar was a victim of destiny and poverty.“She died last month but we feel as if she is still alive and living with us….it’s just as if her death was to complement the tragic living conditions we have here….it was a heavyweight tragedy that has nearly broke us,” Qassas said.

“Her mother had always said that Qamar is the only source of our life, our happiness, our patience and our perseverance in such difficult living conditions.”